How Julia Gillard Hijacked My House Husbands DVD Give Away

There’s been a lot of hype and hysteria over the past few days about the Mummy Bloggers and Julia Gillard catching up for cuppa’s at Kirribilli House, and there was also some vitriolic back and forth between radio dudes and their guests, and then the question was raised – why were there no Daddy Bloggers knocking down tea and scones with Julia?

There was a lot of skirting around the issue and some dismissive comments made about male bloggers – a very popular Mummy Blogger even made a joke about ‘woodworking bloggers’ which I think was pretty low because some of my best friends are woodworking bloggers (And they’re a very sensitive bunch).

It hurts that the Mummy bloggers are turning their noses up at us. There are plenty of talented Daddy bloggers in Aus and our numbers are rising and for the most part it’s been an arm-over-the-shoulder thing with our Mummy blogger counterparts, all working toward the same goals, championing the same causes; our support for each other starting on the domestic frontline and carrying us right through life as we make our way to the big wigs and say, ‘Hey, big wigs! Look at US!’

This may be the first you’ve heard of an uprising of tension between the Mummy Bloggers and Daddy bloggers of Aus, and that’s probably because I am the first to have said it. And having been the person to start the fire and then the only person to have added fuel to it, I’d also like to be the first to quash the rumours by saying, categorically, that there is no tension. Just because I wrote it a minute ago doesn’t make it real. The rumours are untrue.

Julia Gillard and her media guides are aware of this – don’t worry about that – and they’re not going to bother sending out invites when they know they’ll get a polite RSVP saying something like, ‘No thanks, I’m preparing a post to give away two House Husbands DVD’s that day.’

And that’s what I was doing and so I’d like to publicly thank Julia for not bothering me at such an important time, it’s very considerate… although… she has indirectly hijacked this give-away post and that on it’s own has got me off-side a bit and pushed me back into the realm of the ‘swinging voter.’

Pfft. Enough of this.

To celebrate the release of House Husbands Season 1 to DVD from 13th December Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is giving away 2 House Husbands Season 1 DVDs.

Did you hear that? They haven’t even been released yet. A DVD pack will go straight from the warehouse to your house all crispy and new and warm up your lap like a cat!

Here’s how to win.

This post is acting as an open invitation to Julia Gillard to come around to my joint for tea and scones.

What’s a good question for a House Husband to ask a Prime Minister? Leave your question in the comments below and I’ll pick two winners.

About The Author

I fell into this blogging thing but now see it as that crucial cog in the machine. Blogging offers me a great creative outlet with an immediate audience. It freshens my perspective. Reliving my time with the boys, recording our last pregnancy and the birth of our fourth child and dancing around the intimate moments of my relationship with Reservoir Mum acts as a time capsule for my family, adds a little extra to my world, and reminds me of how good I’ve got it.

A hard day at the office becomes a learning experience in retrospect, a chance to colour the most difficult moments with a touch of the crazy, something to savour, something to reread later with the boys on my lap.

17 Comments

I would ask her…
“Given the difficulty of finding permanent foster care placements for kids (who are usually older and harder to place) would she be willing to extend the Paid parental leave and Dad and Partner pay schemes to cover families taking on a permanent foster kid?”

Currently the schemes are only available for the parents of kids born or adopted however permanent foster care is not a temporary situation. Discriminating against permanent foster kids in this way sets up a prejudice in the system for kids to completely sever their relationship with their birth parents which sucks.

Amanda
on December 12, 2012 at 12:41 am

…that, and affordable childcare, support for single parents, and increased investment in public education. And congrats on the speech.

Dianne Whittle
on December 12, 2012 at 3:03 am

Well Julia, how do you get those stubborn skidmarks in the toilet clean?

“True or false Jules, can I call you Jules? – Tony would have invited Dad bloggers”

Sarah
on December 12, 2012 at 11:03 pm

I would ask her for her favourite family recipe (yes, I have a collection of other peoples favourite family recipes- dont judge me, I stay at home with small children!!!) 🙂

tanjia curley
on December 12, 2012 at 11:13 pm

My question is do u follow RD blog? And my tips on attire is boardies tank top and thongs typical aussie attire 😀

Bobbie
on December 12, 2012 at 11:17 pm

A certain amount of formality is needed for such occasions, but you don’t want to be uncomfortable. Shirt, bow tie, tails, whole she-bang. For comfort you can’t beat boxers, satin of course. But perhaps you should purchase a crows pair , Jules is an Adelaide girl of course.
Now for the question. I think without a doubt there is one question on the minds of all Australians….
“So, does the carpet match the curtains???”

Megan
on December 12, 2012 at 11:25 pm

I think “WHEN” Julia invites you over for tea and scones you should ask her if she can dance it Gangnam style with you!!!

David Goldstein
on December 12, 2012 at 11:28 pm

I’d love to ask Julia where she gets her hair cut, but perhaps I know the answer to that question already. How about this – “Julia, could you please fast track funding to our gang of Daddy Bloggers so we can commence filming the movie ‘The Rise & Rise of Daddy Bloggers’. Let Julia know we’ll even give her a special cameo appearance next to Scott Baio.

Donna
on December 12, 2012 at 11:42 pm

I would ask you seem to be a big supporter of the New age family unit ( defacto relationship, work from home parents etc)what does she think of the new surge in stay at home dads and what kind of support does she propose to offer families for the parent who does stay home?

Kristie McKenner
on December 13, 2012 at 1:45 am

So Julia… Any chance u could watch the kids for a few hours while RM holds my hand during my upcoming vassa??

Debbie Lord
on December 13, 2012 at 7:56 am

I agree completely. Also change the terminology … children in Permanent Placement are still ‘labelled’ as In out-of-home care until they are 18. How horrid. They have a home and they’re living in it. We all have the same surname now and call me Mum.

Debbie Lord
on December 13, 2012 at 8:02 am

If children can’t be left home alone and I can’t access childcare, will you look after the children when I am forced back to work by the changes to the Parenting Payment? Please Julia.

Cam @ notunimportant
on December 14, 2012 at 4:11 am

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Aly Petulla
on December 16, 2012 at 11:18 am

I think you should ask her who her favourite red head is?
When she arrives can I recommend something absent of a child’s bodily fluids (poo, pee, spew, saliva, snot etc) but otherwise any of your everyday clothes should do. No need to try and impress her.. It’s not like she’s Dr Snip – it won’t make you feel like she’ll do a better job running the country if she likes you…

Dan the Forest Fan
on December 17, 2012 at 12:31 am

Hey Tony, Debbie

As a stay home dad to two kids via Permanent Care your comments struck a chord with me. The language which DHS use to describe our kids I find offensive like you, as they talk about our kids living in ‘out of home’ care when self evidently to anyone who takes the trouble to get to know us as a family (and you can exclude DHS from that list unfortunately!), our kids are absolutely living AT home. In fact I presented a talk at the Aus. Adoption and Permanent Care Conference on this very topic, link below:

Aslo I did claim and was granted ‘baby bonus’ when our son joined the family as a PC child, so don’t see why parents with Permanent Care kids would be excluded from the paid parental leave scheme.

Kids in foster homes though, thats a different issue, as the children remain under Guardianship of either their birth parents or the State. This means that either the State or their birth parent(s) retain ‘parental responsibilty’; it isn’t transfered to the foster parents, hence different entitlements to payments (but foster parents are eligible for a host of other supports through ‘the system’)

As foster care and permanent care are under the jurisidiction of Victorian not Federal Acts, Julia may not be of great help, so maybe we should ask;

Dear Julia please can you sack Baillieu? Or if not sack him, atleast get him to sit down with some parents in the foster care and permanent care community and LISTEN to them. Cheers.